


Holiday Guest

by Tilltheendwilliwrite



Series: New Year's 2018/19 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Romance, тэг заменён на Don't copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 17:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17248055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tilltheendwilliwrite/pseuds/Tilltheendwilliwrite
Summary: mysterysiria asked:Hi again! It’s me again with the Bruce Banner request :) glad to know u still accept requests! And don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking of smut ☺️ ok so here’s my request. Bruce turns up in a small town somewhere as The Hulk and then loses consciousness and turns back as himself. The reader finds him in their barn and doesn’t recognize him as an Avenger. Since it’s NYE, the Reader convinces him to stay with her and her family as a guest. The rest is up to you. :) hope you’ll take this! Thanks doll💚





	Holiday Guest

* * *

He stumbled through the snow, falling thickly around him and whipping with ice in the blizzard. He’d lost his way, lost his team, lost the people his counterpart called _friends_. The Hulk trudged through the cold and freezing winds, searching for somewhere, anywhere, to rest and get out of the storm.  

Hulk stumbled. The snow was deep, the battle had been long, and he was tired, but he couldn’t allow himself to stop, to sleep until he found a safe place.

Bruce, his counterpart, would freeze in such weather.

Then, in the distance, he saw a light. As he trudged closer, careful of a trap, the building took shape, and he realized it was a barn. Even as he shoved the door open, his body was changing, shrinking, losing its size and strength as he fell in the door and turned to shut it before he no longer could.

Then, the small, human shape of Bruce fell coughing and shivering on the floor and dragged the backpack once strapped to the Hulk’s leg toward him. The shorts Tony had designed to shrink and grow with him remained, but they were doing little to keep out the cold. Instead, they’d convinced the Hulk, who with time and effort had become far more communicative, to allow Natasha to attach the backpack to his leg.

It gave Bruce clothing and first aid supplies should he need them when one form disappeared, and the other returned.

Bruce dragged on the jeans, sweater, jacket and boots quickly, shivering uncontrollably. The barn door was banging, but he needed to get dressed before he could do anything about that. “Cold. Cold. Cold. Freaking cold,” Bruce grumbled as he zipped up his coat.

The shifting of animals in the barn had him looking up to the faces of three horses and a cow. “Uh… hi?” The cow mooed. “Nice to meet you too.”

The cocking of a gun had Bruce raising his hands.

“Turn around. Nice and slow.”

He did, coming face to face with the barrel of a shotgun. “You’re really not going to want to pull that trigger.”

“I’ll make that decision.”

Bruce looked past the barrel at the woman holding the gun. “Okay then.”

“Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want?”

“Bruce. I got lost. I’d like to get warm.”

“Lost from where?”

“I was out… hiking with my friends when the storm blew in. I fell down a hill and got separated from them. I saw the barn and… here I am.”

The gun barrel lowered minutely. “You’re alone?” He nodded. The barrel lowered some more as she looked him over. “You’re dressed like shit for hiking, but I guess you’re harmless enough.” She turned to go only to look at him when he didn’t move. “Are you coming? Or do you want to freeze out here in the barn?”

Bruce grabbed up his pack and followed her back out in the storm.

She slung the gun over her shoulder. “Give me a hand with this door!” she hollered over the wind.

He leaned into it with her, helping force it shut past the snowdrift that had formed before following her as they made their way away from the barn. Bruce hoped to hell she knew where she was going in the whiteout that was this blizzard.

It felt like they slogged forever before a new light glowed yellow in the distance. This one came from a porch light and three windows. They stomped up the steps, and she shoved open the front door where Bruce practically fell inside. She slammed it behind them, blocking out the storm and surrounding them in silence.

As he wiped the snow from his face, Bruce took a cautious look around. The cabin was of the log variety, not that different from the barn, but there was a fire roaring in the stone fireplace, and lights glowed from lamps around the room.

“Get out of that coat and those boots and plant yourself by the fire.” She motioned him that way and put her gun up on a rack by the door after pulling the two rounds from the chambers.

He was in the process of shrugging out of his coat when the sound of small feet had him glancing toward the door at the back of the house. Two little faces poked out from around the corner.

“Mama?”

The woman’s head snapped up. “June. Jack. You were supposed to be asleep by now.”

“But… we heard the perimeter alarm.”

 _Ah. That’s how she knew_. Bruce hung up his coat. “That would be me. Sorry to intrude.” He waved at the kids.

The woman placed herself between him and them. “You two get back in your bunks. Now!” she barked when they hesitated.

Bruce shrank back. He was a stranger in her house — an unknown man in her home with her children. Of course, she was wary of him. He slipped off his boots and padded across the space to sit hunched before the fire with his backpack between his feet.

The little girl coughed as she scurried off, a wet bark that made Bruce frown, but before he could say anything, the kids were gone. Then it was just the two of them. The woman pushed the hood back on her jacket, revealing a wealth of black hair, a face full of sharp features, and bright violet eyes.

He swallowed hard. Gorgeous women made him nervous.

She hung up her coat and shot him a look, one that said he better stay where he was until she got back. Then she went through a double-wide opening into the kitchen where she turned on the stove, filled a kettle, and set it on the heat.

While she puttered, Bruce dug in the backpack for his phone only to pull out a shattered mess. It looked like they were going to have to revisit the “Hulk-proof” device. He reached for the beacon at the bottom and pulled it free. It had, thankfully, survived the fight and he gave the button on the top a click. The team would pick it up and come for him eventually. He just had to be patient. One click meant safe; two was “come get me now!”

“So…” Bruce stuffed the beacon in the bag and tucked it to the side. “I'm really sorry about this.”

“Better in my house than dead in my barn,” she muttered, dropping a couple of teabags in a pot before filling it with hot water. “You're not the first to lose his way out here. You think your friends made it out alright?”

“I'm sure they're fine. But if you happen to have a phone..?”

She shot him a look then shook her head. “In this weather? That's the first thing to go. I'm surprised we still have-” the power went out, plunging them into darkness, “lights.”

Pounding feet raced down the hall. “Mama!”

She sighed before stepping out of the kitchen. “It's fine. The storm took out the power is all.” She took something off the wall and handed it to the boy who clicked on the flashlight. “Go get your blankets and pillows. It looks like we'll all be bunking out here tonight.”

She cast another suspicious look at Bruce, but he pretended not to notice. Both kids disappeared at a run, but not before the girl gave another big wet cough.

“How long has she had that?” Bruce asked before he could think not to.

“She's none of your concern!”

He held up his hands. “I wouldn't normally say anything, but I'm a doctor.”

“Right,” she scoffed. “And I'm Iron Man.”

“Nice to meet you, Tony,” Bruce quipped and watched a smile quirk her lip. “But seriously. Doctor. Medical degree and everything.”

She arched a skeptical brow as she returned with the tea and two cups. “So what's a supposedly smart guy like you doing trudging around my land when the weather called for this?”

“I listened to a dumbass friend who said we'd be long gone before this happened.” _Thank you, Tony_.

She sat on the sofa across from him and poured the tea. “Your friend needs his head examined. Hey. You should work that up when you get back.”

“I'll be sure and order the scans.”

She chuckled softly and blew on her tea. “I'm Maureen.”

“Still Bruce.”

“Sorry for the short temper. It's been a rough few weeks what with Christmas and the kids home from school, and random people setting off the perimeter alarms.”

“You have problems that you'd have perimeter alarms?”

“The usual. Wolves. Sometimes bears. The occasional thief looking for easy pickings.”

“What kind of pickings?”

“Cattle. You made it all the way across my land but missed the cattle?”

Bruce shrugged. “It was a blizzard.” And not even the Hulk had noticed the “furry moos” as he put it. When she sipped the tea, he picked up the second cup and drank deeply.

“Hmm, I suppose it's possible.”

The kids returned, and Maureen stood. She settled them on the couch, one to either end but when June began to cough again, Bruce frowned.

“I really am a doctor,” he muttered. “How long you been coughing like that, honey?”

“Since Christmas.”

“A week, huh.” He looked at Maureen and waited. The woman sighed but finally nodded. “Can you come here and bring the flashlight so I can check your throat?”

The girl, roughly five, hopped off the sofa and made her way closer. Her pajamas were pink with puppies, a pair of pants and long sleeved top. Bruce looked at Maureen.  “I could use a spoon and a glass.”

She arched a brow but went to get what he needed as Bruce checked for a temperature. June was quite warm, her eyes glassy with fever. Her glands were swollen, and when Maureen returned, he used the handle of the spoon like a tongue depressor.

“Say ahhhhhh.” She did, and Bruce frowned. “Your throat hurt too?” June nodded. “I bet. Do you like your mama's tea?” Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head. “What if she put lots of honey in it?” June looked suspicious then nodded. “We'll give it a try. Can I see your back?’

The girl turned around, and Bruce lifted her shirt. He set the glass her mother returned with against her back and “listened” to the girl's lungs. In truth, he'd heard the rattle since he walked in thanks to Hulk hearing, but this way everyone was quiet as June breathed in and out.

“Alright. You go crawl back on the couch with your brother while I help your mother with the tea.” He took the glass and spoon with him to place in the sink.

“Well?” Maureen asked.

“She get this every year?”

“The last couple, yeah.”

“I'm pretty sure it's a form of Croup, an invasive respiratory infection, but her left lung has picked up a rattle. She could be developing bronchitis or pneumonia.”

“Oh, no!” Maureen whispered. “What do we do? There's no way I can get her into town in this storm. And nothing's open at this time of night if I could.”

“We're going to keep her hydrated, watch to make sure she doesn't spike a fever, and if need be, I know some holistic remedies that can help until you can get her some antibiotics.”

She nodded, then looked at him with gratitude for the first time. “I don't know where you came from Dr. Bruce, but it's a New Year's miracle you're here.”

Bruce only smiled and returned to the living room.

***

While the storm raged, Bruce watched over June. Maureen kept Jack occupied with books and stories. The boy was about eight and as wary as his mother, but Bruce didn’t let it bother him.

He learned the children’s father had been an army man who’d been killed in action about a year ago. This year had been the first they’d spent without him, and it had been hard. Maureen’s ranch had been her family home for generations, and though they’d had tough times, she loved it and had no plans on giving it up. Her husband, Tom, had grown up on the neighbouring ranch, and his brothers still ran it, coming over to help when necessary.

They were one big family, a community together. Maureen and the kids had spent Christmas with them, but for New Years, she’d just wanted a quiet night at home away from the noise. One in which she could mourn her loss. One without the pitying eyes of her relatives watching.

Bruce almost felt bad for intruding, but as little June’s fever rose, and her cough worsened, he knew it was a good thing he was there. But now the folded flag on the fireplace mantle made sense.

The first aid supplies in his kit wouldn’t do him any good with her, and when Jack finally went to sleep, Bruce motioned Maureen into the kitchen. “We need to do something to reduce the fluid in her lungs. I’m going to bundle her up and take her outside.”

“What!” Maureen hissed.

“The cold helps kids with Croup breathe better.” Bruce began looking through her cupboards.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you’re looking for instead of riffling,” Maureen huffed.

“Dry mustard and flour.”

She shooed him out of the way and retrieved both herself. “Why?”

“I need a bowl and warm water, too.”

She added both of those, then went to the fire in the living room and brought back the kettle they’d been using to make June tea. By then, Bruce had added one part mustard to eight parts flour.

“You’re making a plaster? My grandmother used to do that.”

He smiled at Maureen. “Well, there’s a reason for that. They work.” Bruce motioned to the bowl. “You finish this, a nice paste, then get two tea towels, vaseline, and an old shirt for June. I’ll take her outside for a few minutes. Then we’ll get that plaster on her and see if we can’t stop this bug in its tracks.” Maureen nodded. Her concern was evident in the frown on her forehead and the wrinkles between her brows, and Bruce reached out to touch her arm. “She’s going to be okay.”

Everything fell from her hands as Maureen launched herself at him. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered.

Stunned, it took a moment for Bruce to return her hug, awkwardly patting her back. “Me too.”

Maureen pulled away, a pink flush on her cheeks. “Sorry. I’m not usually so… emotional.”

“It’s the holidays, and this has been a long night.” Bruce patted her shoulder and went to put on his coat, feeling the warmth burn in his face. She really was a beautiful woman. He stuffed his feet in his boots and returned to the couch where he wrapped June’s blankets tightly around her, picked her up, and headed for the door.

Some of the wind had died down at least. The snow crunched beneath his boots as he made his way across the porch to sit on a snowy bench. His breath puffed out in clouds of white, barely discernible in the dark. If it weren’t for the firelight coming through the window, he wouldn’t be able to see much at all.

He tucked the blanket around June’s feet and pulled it up around her head. She gave a soft moan that had Bruce gently patting her back. “Just breathe, honey. Nice and deep.” She slept on, but it seemed like her laboured breathing was easing a little bit.

He gave it five minutes and slipped back inside. Maureen was waiting and took June from him so he could shrug out of his coat and boots. He followed her into the kitchen where she’d sat her daughter on the island, June rousing with all the jousting. The poor kid wasn’t impressed and was even less so when her mother stripped her shirt over her head.

“I remember this from when I was little,” Maureen said as Bruce checked the consistency of the paste and began applying it to the tea towel. “The vaseline is to help protect her skin right?”

Bruce nodded. “We’ll have to keep checking to make sure she doesn’t blister, and this can’t stay on for more than twenty minutes, but if it works, it will help draw out the infection.”

June had started to shiver and whimper, tears forming as her misery grew worse. Bruce worked faster, covering the first towel with the second, making sure none of the mixture would actually touch June’s skin, then brought it to Maureen. “You hold that on, I’ll get June’s shirt on her.”

The towel stuck to the vaseline as Maureen brought it to June’s chest.

“Mama, it smells,” June whimpered, her big tears dripping down her cheeks.

“I know, baby, but it will help you feel better.”

Bruce worked fast to get the girl’s shirt over her head, and her arms through the sleeves, then he wrapped her back up in her thick blanket and returned to sit in the chair beside the fire. “Hey, Junebug. You’re going to feel really, really warm, but it’s to sweat out the sickies okay?”

She nodded, well used to him by this point, and cuddled closer. “I don’t feel good, Dr. Bruce.”

“I know. But your mama’s going to make you some more tea with lots of honey, and we’re going to sit here for a bit, and soon you’ll be all better.”

She coughed a bark, thick and rattling with mucus. “Promise?”

“Promise.” He rubbed the girl’s back and looked up when Maureen appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were glassy with tears. Her hand pressed to her mouth. He frowned, but she shook her head and wiped her face before bringing her daughter the cup of tea.

They coaxed a little down June’s throat, but the child was more interested in going back to sleep, so Bruce let her. Every few minutes, he peeked beneath the edge of the plaster, making sure her skin wasn’t reddening.

“What the hell kind of doctor are you?” Maureen asked after checking on her son.

“What do you mean?”

She came and sat on the coffee table near his knee and frowned at him, her gaze darting from his face to that of her daughter. “You make mustard plasters like a pro. Take my daughter out into the storm to dry out her lungs. You used a glass to listen to her breathe, and a spoon to see down her throat. What the hell kind of doctor are you, Bruce, that you can improvise medical procedures at the drop of a hat?”

He checked on June before answering, gathering his thoughts. It had been obvious from the start she didn’t recognize him. Bruce wasn’t sure if that made things easier or harder, but did he dare tell her the truth? How panicked would it make her to know the man who could become The Hulk was sitting in her living room, cuddling her kid?

The weird thing was, the Hulk, always present, had remained still and watchful this whole time. He was calm and relaxed, but he felt… protective of the family who’d so easily adopted them for New Years. Sure she’d been suspicious, but neither of them blamed Maureen for that.

Still, he didn’t want to freak her out by either telling her who he was or explaining what the Avengers had been doing so close to her family's farm.

“I’ve worked in a lot of third world countries. Sometimes the simplest remedies, or those passed down through generations, are the ones that work best. If they’d lasted that long,” he peeked down at June and checked the plaster, “there’s usually a good reason.”

“So are you Doctors Without Borders or…?”

“Something like that.” He shifted June. “We should take this off. You’ll need to wipe her down, see if we can get another dose of Tylenol in her, and then let her sleep.”

Maureen rose and took her from him, heading into the kitchen with the exhausted child, but Bruce stayed where he was. It was odd how comfortable he felt here. He wasn’t a “ranch” kind of person, but the comfortable, cozy feel of the log home was lovely. He’d seen little of the house but for the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, but it was clearly a home. Kids toys were in every room; it was decorated for the holidays with Santas and snowmen. The tree sat sparkly but without presents in the corner.

Bruce pushed to his feet and had a look at the pictures on the mantle. Tom was in most of them. With horses, leaning against wood fences, or playing with the kids. There were a few with him and other men who looked surprisingly similar - likely his brothers. At the back partially hidden behind another, was a picture of Tom in his uniform. Bruce nudged the one in front of it out of the way.

“You’ve got a really nice family here,” he said softly. “They’re doing okay. They miss you, but they’re doing okay.”

He turned to watch Maureen as she made her way back with June, tucked her down on the couch, and smoothed back her damp hair. She placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead, checked on Jack, and stepped up beside Bruce at the fireplace.

“Their daddy was a good man.” She tugged the picture Bruce had moved back in front of the one of Tom. “But when he signed on for another tour… it broke us.”

“I’m sorry,” Bruce murmured.

She shrugged. “I loved him, but he couldn’t see how badly we need him here, not off saving the world.”

Bruce flinched. “Sometimes we don’t have a choice. Sometimes some of us are tasked with standing up for the world when the world can’t stand up for itself.”

She snorted. “And sometimes kids just need their daddy to be home at night to tuck them in. Sometimes a wife needs to know she comes first over the fifteen guys in his unit.” She stalked away, heading back into the kitchen where she took a bottle of whiskey down off the top of the fridge and plucked a glass from the cabinet. “Want one?” she held up the bottle.

Bruce nodded. “You’re right too.”

She sighed and poured a second glass. “I knew when he decided to join up after high school it would change things between us, I just didn’t think it would change… everything.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” She downed the glass and poured a second.

Bruce took a deep breath and sighed. “Sometimes… things in life happen, and what plans we had… change. I had plans, a girl, a future I was looking forward to, but there was an accident, and everything went out the window. Now, I help where I can, and while it’s not the life I’d planned, I’m making it work. Sometimes you see things happening, and you can’t _not_ help.”

“What would you know, Bruce? You’re a doctor.”

He winced. “Yeah. A doctor. But I’ve also probably seen as much violence and hatred as your husband. While I can’t speak to his mindset when he re-upped, I do get it. Sometimes there are things you can’t unsee, and when that happens, you can’t _not_ stand up for other people.”

She looked at him over the rim of her glass. “Don’t tell me you’re an army doctor?”

“No… no, not really. Though I’ve worked with soldiers.” And Asgardians. Assassins. Magicians.

She frowned and set down her glass. “Who are you really, Bruce?”

He mumbled into his glass, “I don’t think you really want to know.”

She moved closer, right up beside him. “Yes, I think I do.”

“You can’t take it back if I tell you.”

Maureen took the glass from his fingers. “You’ve looked familiar since I found you in my barn. Just spit it out.”

He turned toward her and tucked his hands in his pockets, hunching forward as he did. “Um… my last name is Banner?”

Her eyes narrowed. His heart beat twice. Her eyes widened in recognition. “Like… the Avenger? The man who…” Her hands fluttered, indicating a growth in size.

“Uh, yeah?” He scrunched his eyes closed, waiting for the yelling.

“I’m surprised Jack didn’t figure it out. You’re his favourite, though June is more a Scarlet Witch fan.”

He popped one eye open, then the other. She was looking at him in amusement. “You’re not… freaking out.”

She shrugged. “There’s a reason I have perimeter fencing, remember.”

“Well, if they’re the same reason why we were here, they won’t be a problem anymore.” Then he winced. “But you may have more than your regular amount of storm downed trees to deal with when the snow ends.”

“I see,” she chuckled into her glass. “Hydra?”

“Almost as bad.” Bruce could only stare at her, shocked and amazed.

“What?”

He picked up his glass and drank the whole thing, hissing at the burn. “You’re not screaming and kicking me out.”

“Why would I do that? You’re one of the good guys.”

“Most people don’t take finding out who I am this… well.”

“Is it the Hulk thing?” she asked.

A growl slipped unwittingly from his chest. “Sorry,” Bruce murmured, stepping back. “He doesn’t like being called thing.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way. Just, like finding out I’m a widow. People are uncomfortable about the widow “thing.” I just meant in general your… friend makes people uncomfortable.” Then she smiled. “Well, now it makes sense why you were dressed like shit.”

Bruce chuckled, and so did the Hulk, the deep “hohoho” filling the room.

“He’s right here, isn’t he?” Maureen asked, shifting closer.

“Always.”

She nodded slowly, searching his eyes. “I get where you’re coming from now, how you can relate to Tom. I guess when you have that kind of power, it comes with a lot of… responsibility.”

“Sometimes the green guy is the only one who can get the job done.”

She nodded slowly, her eyes still locked with his. “Still… what you do, it’s different than being a soldier.”

“Not really.”

“It is. You do it because you’re the only one who can. Tom did it because he chose to.”

“You don’t know that,” Bruce murmured.

She poured a third glass of whiskey. “Just before he was killed, he sent me a letter. I’ve never shown the kids, and I never will. He wanted a divorce. He said ranch life, family, our _children_ were never what he wanted. He did it because it was what his family wanted. What he thought was “right.” We’d had eleven years of marriage together, but it meant _nothing_ to him!”

Bruce plucked the glass from her fingers before she could drink it. “None of that is your fault, Maureen.”

She cast a glance at her kids asleep on the couch. “How could anyone not want them?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how a lot of people do what they do.” But walking away from something as precious as your own kids, even the Hulk was miffed at that. Before he could overthink it, Bruce moved toward her and drew Maureen into a hug she leaned into. “You’re kids are great. You’re great. Your husband was an idiot.”

She gave a shuddering sigh. “I know that, but it’s nice to hear someone else say it. Someone who doesn’t look at me and tell me how amazing Tom was and how much I must miss him. If they knew the truth...”

“I know the truth.”

She pulled back to look up at him as the clock on the mantle struck midnight. Her gaze darted to his mouth. Bruce’s dropped to hers and watched her tongue sweep across her lips.

“Happy New Year, Bruce.”

“Happy New Year, Maureen.”

She pressed up on her toes as he lowered his head, struck by the hour and the conversation, and the strange magical nature of the whole night. The kiss was soft and chaste, no more than a brushing of lips before it was over and they drew apart.

“I should check on June,” she murmured.

Bruce didn’t protest her leaving, but once she’d walked away, he drank her whiskey and hissed at the burn.

***

The storm died out shortly before six in the morning, by which time June’s fever had broken, and her laboured breathing had eased. Bruce figured she’d be alright, but advised Maureen to have her checked out anyway.

Shortly after that the sound of jets and metal landing, and the clank of boots on wood had Bruce heading for the door to find Tony in his iron suit standing there.

“Honey, I’m home! Did you miss me?” 

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Not really.”

Tony stepped out of his suit and into the house, glanced at Maureen and smiled then arched a brow at the kids. “Brucey-bear? Were you playing house without the rest of us?”

“Cut it out, Tony. Maureen was nice enough to take me in when I wandered into her barn. Then I helped with June who’s sick.”

The Iron Man instantly sobered and lifted his wrist to his lips. “Bring it in, Nat.” The sound of the quinjet landing had Bruce glancing toward the windows. “You can check her out on the jet if you need to.”

Bruce glanced at the kids, staring open-mouthed at the two of them. Maureen had explained who he was over breakfast sending Jack into fits of excitement. June looked so hopeful, Bruce chuckled before reaching for her coat. “Come on. I’ll give you all a tour.”

The kids climbed into boots and coats, Maureen followed, and Tony walked out the door and back into the suit before leading the way to the jet through the snow, and up the ramp where Nat was waiting with her arms crossed and brow arched.

“Bruce.”

“Natasha.” He moved past her, packing June, and took the girl to the med bed where he set her and began pressing buttons. Tony occupied Jack, but when Steve wandered back from the front of the plane, the boy’s excited squeal made Bruce chuckle.

“How’s she look?” Maureen asked.

“Well…” Bruce went through the quick scans and pulled up a few more results. “It was definitely becoming pneumonia. You’ll want to get her into her regular physician in the next few days to have her looked at, but she’ll be okay. I think we cut it off at the knees.” He chucked June’s chin and stroked her hair.

“Thank you, Dr. Banner!” the girl chirped, then gave a wet bark that made Steve shudder.

“I remember those days,” the man grumbled as he headed back to the cabin at the front of the plane. “Don’t mean to cut this short, Bruce, but we need to pick up the others and get back to the compound.”

“Sure, Cap.” Bruce nodded, sighing a little as he picked June up and headed back down the ramp with her and Maureen, Jack lagging behind.  

“Thanks for taking me in,” Bruce murmured. “It was a surprisingly nice New Years.”

Maureen took June from him, set her down and shooed both kids back toward the house. “That it was,” she said. When the door shut on the kids, she looked at him, softness and gratitude on her face. “Thank you for everything you did for June.”

“It was the least I could do.”

She peered up at him, then her hand was on his cheek, and their lips were coming together. She kissed him, soft and slow, and even the Hulk hummed in appreciation.

“Don’t forget us,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “I could never.”

“You’re welcome to visit. Any time.”

He swallowed thickly and nodded. “I’ll try.” The sound of the jet revving had him glancing at the plane where Nat was watching him smugly. “Goodbye, Maureen.”

“Goodbye, Bruce.”

He walked away with his heart pounding. His chest ached, but she hadn’t asked him to stay, and the team needed him. He sat down with a sigh when the ramp closed behind them and ignored the grinning Natasha when she sat across from him.

“So… big night?”

He shot her a glance that said clearly _don’t_ and closed his eyes.

***

The night was dark and storming when the perimeter alarm sounded. Maureen cursed softly as she grabbed the shotgun down from its rack and loaded it, threw on a rain slicker, and went out the door. No one had set it off in months. Not since New Years when Bruce…

She pushed that thought aside and slogged through the rain to the barn where the door was banging. She cocked the weapon and brought it to her shoulder before slipping silently inside.

The interior was dark, and she didn’t see anyone right away, then a shadow near the stalls moved. “I don’t know what you want, but I’m not afraid to shoot your ass. Come out slowly with your hands where I can see them.”

He stepped into the light, what little there was of it, and smiled. “You’re really not going to want to pull that trigger.”

She lowered the gun as her heart soared. “Bruce...”

-The End-


End file.
